Editing Berne, Indiana (section)

==History==
Berne was settled in 1852 by [[Mennonite]] immigrants who came directly from [[Switzerland]] (Münsterberg, in the [[Jura Mountains]] near [[Moutier]])<ref name="gameo.org">{{Cite web |title=Münsterberg (Kanton Bern, Switzerland) |url=https://gameo.org/index.php?title=M%C3%BCnsterberg_(Kanton_Bern,_Switzerland) |website=Global Anabaptist Mennonite Online Encyclopedia}}</ref> and named the community after their homeland's [[Bern|capital]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Co_VIPIJerIC&pg=PA138|year=1997|publisher=Merriam-Webster|isbn=978-0-87779-546-9|page=138}}</ref> 
Berne initially formed around a rail depot placed on the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad lines. On Christmas Day 1871, the first train arrived at the local depot. A post office was established in Berne in 1872.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=IN&county=Adams | title=Adams County | publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=26 August 2014}}</ref> After the population of the town exceeded 2,500, on a petition of two-thirds of the residents, the town decided to become a city in 1887. By 1895 the community was the second largest city in the county.<ref name=Snow1907>[https://archive.org/details/snowshistoryofad00snow ''Snow's History of Adams County.''] Author: J.F. Snow; Publisher: B.F. Bowen and Co., Indianapolis, 1907. Accessed April 2020.</ref><ref name=ES1985>[https://books.google.com/books?id=JE0aAQAAIAAJ ''Bern, Berne, New Bern ... U.S.A.: A Short History of American Settlements with a Name Related to Berne, Switzerland.''] Author: Erdmann Schmocker; Publisher: Erdmann Schmocker, 1985. Length 236 pages. Accessed April 2020.</ref>

The [[General Conference of the Mennonite Church]] has been held in Berne four times - in 1884, 1902, 1926 and 1947. The First Mennonite Church in Berne is the largest of its kind in North America, and previously had the largest congregation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Story {{!}} About Us {{!}} First Mennonite Church of Berne, Indiana |url=https://firstmennonite.org/about-us/our-story |access-date=2022-03-26 |website=firstmennonite.org}}</ref> It is affiliated with the [[Lancaster Mennonite Conference]]. The official publishing company of the [[General Conference Mennonite Church]], the "[[Mennonite Book Concern]]," was located in Berne from 1884 until 1939, when it moved to [[North Newton, Kansas]], which was the ''de facto'' seat of the Mennonite Church at the time.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 26, 1938 |title=Publication office here moves West |pages=1 |work=The Berne Witness |url=http://bernepublicin.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=mennonite%20book%20concern&i=f&d=01011896-12311959&m=between&ord=k1&fn=the_berne_witness_usa_indiana_berne_19381026_english_1&df=11&dt=20&cid=2948 |access-date=June 30, 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Berne, Indiana.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Photo from Small Town Indiana photo survey.]]